


Matrix of the Dead

by Barbayat



Category: The Matrix (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Rebirth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-05
Updated: 2013-02-15
Packaged: 2017-11-28 06:41:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/671447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Barbayat/pseuds/Barbayat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set several decades after Matrix Revolutions.</p><p>Agent Smith is brought to life from a back-up copy made before Neo tore his programming to bits. However, the new Matrix structure and his role in the grand scheme of things is not to his liking.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Online

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to LauralHill (ff.net) for beta-reading this story for me.
> 
> Warnings and tags will be added as they apply.

It was a typical summer day in New York: morning rain made the air humid and unbearable again. For the time being it did not bother Detective Gina Larson, the company car had air-conditioning. It was a dark green, almost black, Audio S4 Limousine, the company's standard model.

Miss Larson was employed by the Matrix Oversight Council also known as the MOC. The council had one purpose: to stabilise the Matrix by monitoring and regulating all activities inside it. While it was debated whether Gina and her colleagues could still be considered human or had somehow become programs, nobody could argue that Gina was still suffering from her human vices.

One of these vices was that she was almost always late, and today was no exception. She was fully aware that she had problems with timeliness, but sometimes it seemed as if there was nothing she could do about it. Anticipating the dreadful mid-day traffic, she took off earlier than usual, but bad luck struck. A BMW driver had hit the corner of a delivery truck just two cars in front of her, resulting in her being stuck in traffic for nearly an hour.

When she drove down into the subterranean parking lot of the MOC building, she was exactly five minutes and 40 seconds late. Gina knew that the Architect, the head of the MOC, would be upset, even though he should know of the reason for her delay. Gina could only describe his feelings toward her as irrational contempt. He never failed to point out how imperfect a program she was. 

Of course, it was by no means directed to her alone. All of the Biological Transfer Units appeared to be equally disliked. Still, Gina firmly believed that she was more despised than others. She suspected this belief stemmed from her own insecurities. Everyone else in their group who had opted for the transfer of their consciousness into the matrix was a brilliant and natural coder. 

She alone was the connection to the other programs - her duty was to get the BTUs and the Agents working together. Even though it was necessary, the Architect disapproved of her developing the Agents' interpersonal skills.

Gina parked the Audi close to the elevator, gathered her handbag from the passenger seat and hurried towards the elevator. It went only one floor up, so then she had to walk to the first floor's front desk. The porter, a program with a very unpleasant stare, greeted her with a low, monotone voice.

"Please, remove your weapons, keys, key-cards and any other electronic devices in your possession."

Gina rolled her eyes - as if she did not know what to do! She'd been through this procedure nearly fifty times. During the traffic jam, she had put all the necessary items into a plastic bag. She now pulled it out of her handbag and put it on the counter. Finally, she removed her gun from the holster, ejected the magazine and put them down as well.

The porter handed her form on a clipboard and she signed it. These programs definitely craved bureaucracy. Still, reaching the main frame was easy enough these days. She watched as the porter moved her belongings into a steel box, locking it before buzzing her through the first security door. There she was scanned for any subversive coding or viruses.

Another buzz announced that she was cleared. She walked through another pair of doors that led to the inner chambers. From there she took the lift that lead past the garage level deep into the ground. She shuddered – no one ever looked forward to going to the source. No matter how virtual everything around her truly was, the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped under tons of earth, cement and steel seemed very real.

The final security door opened to a corridor filled with identical doors. Yet, Gina knew exactly which door to take. Finally, twelve minutes and twenty-one seconds after the designated meeting time, she had arrived and was immediately greeted by the ever- patronizing voice of the Architect.

"Miss Larson, late as expected."

He sat on a big armchair behind a control panel his best friendly grandfather face on. It did not affect Gina. There were none of the legendary monitor walls - instead there were four pillars bearing several access terminals in front of him. From here it was possible to directly inject code into the matrix, and also to freeze and isolate existing code. 

Her gaze moved to the right, where she saw the tall figure approaching her.

She looked away from the Agent. "I'm sorry that I'm late. - I will spare you the excuses."

"How refreshing," Agent Smith said.

Gina couldn't help but smile at his voice. She had heard so many people talk about him, almost as if he was the Bogeyman himself. Naturally, nobody ever had mentioned what a beautiful and melodic voice the Agent had. Everything else she saw was far from alarming; he was an ordinary looking Agent rather than a fiend from hell.

Not that Gina would typically use the word ordinary to describe an Agent. The Architect created what he thought were inconspicuous men with an air of authority and easily forgettable features - but she would describe most of them as “smoking hot”. And Agent Smith was no exception. She couldn't help but feel enthralled by his presence, so much that she actually overlooked the contempt in those two words.

"I assume, the Architect has already told you everything about the new arrangements?"

"Vaguely, I thought I would leave the specifics to you", the Architect said from his end of the room.

"Oh," Gina said, "does Agent Smith know about us?"

"Indeed, he instructed me as to the nature of your programming. If that is even close to the precise way of describing what you are", Smith sneered at her.

This time, Gina noticed the obvious disapproval in his voice and in the way he seemed to quickly sum her up from top to bottom. His gaze lingered on her feet. She followed it and realised that she wore dirty white sneakers. 

'Way to make a first impression', she thought.

"Personally, I would call it a terrible decision", the Agent concluded.

"Based on a careful examination of what empirical data?" 

Pissing off Agent Smith in the first two minutes of their acquaintance was probably not a good idea. But when it came to people whose emotions got in the way of reason, she couldn't help it. Even though she knew that Agent Smith had developed emotional responses long before the other Agents, she was not quite prepared for the level of hostility he was projecting towards her, and had increased after her question.

"Transferring a human consciousness permanently into the Matrix," he began closing in on her, "basically creating a programme that has all of the weaknesses and limitation of your species, can't result in anything but a big disaster."

Trying to keep her cool, she did her best to stare back at those unrevealing sunglasses. "So, what else has the Architect told you?"

"Not much else," Smith said. "Apparently the BTUs are stabilizing the Matrix in such a way that Zion has become superfluous. I was also informed of the way Zion and the One were previously fulfilling that role."

The way he pronounced “the One” sent a chill down her spine.

"It would have been faster if I could access the information directly from the main frame - but for unspecified reasons I am denied access."

Surprised she looked at the Architect. "Really? What purpose does that serve?"

"We cannot be too careful. I will be monitoring Agent Smith's progress. Provided no irregularities arise, I will re-instate his access to the mainframe. Now, do your job and prepare him, as I have more important matters to attend."

You are so full of shit. Gina nodded to the Agent. "Okay, let's get out of this tomb."

As far she could tell, Smith still wore a disapproving look as he followed her out of the room. He quickly stepped up and walked alongside her, not saying a word until they both were inside the elevator.

"So, Miss Larson, what exactly did happen after I shot Mr. Anderson?" he inquired as the doors closed. "The Architect was extremely reluctant to speak of the matter."

Just before the doors opened, she said, "Maybe you should sit down for that revelation."

She then stepped out of the elevator: the tiny room seemed even smaller with a hostile Agent in it. She kept walking till a sharp yank on her arm stopped her.  
"Do not patronize me! You are required to give me answers."

Agent Smith's aggressive approach was shocking enough to trigger an adrenaline rush. Of course her biochemistry was now virtual, but the end result was a perfect imitation. Therefore, Gina's reaction was an equally aggressive response.

Staring at his hand on her arm, she said coolly, "In brief, I am sure the Architect mentioned the ability of the One to manipulate the Matrix at will. Mr. Anderson was the One – so he got up and used his new found insight to shred you to pieces."

She could feel the pressure on her arm lessening with every word, but the last one made him finally let go of her. He was clearly unable to believe that a mere human had the power to destroy him. Normally Gina would have waited before diving further into the issue, but she was still rather agitated.

"Oh, and here is the kicker - when he ripped your coding apart, somehow your remains combined with part of his code and gave birth to a new Smith-Program."  
Smith flinched as she said “gave birth”. Everything she said seemed unlikely to him. Had he been a program that solely operated on logic and reason, he might have simply demanded further input to evaluate the situation. However, his infinite hatred of Mr. Anderson not to mention his general contempt for humans - only increased his anger.

"You were turned into a super virus that nearly annihilated every conscious form of life on the planet." She could not help gloating a bit after this nicely executed blow. 

At least for a split second, until she felt Agent Smith's Desert Eagle pressed against her chin. For the first time she was completely agreed with the Architect's assessment: Smith was definitely unstable. Gina's lips trembled as she fought against the urge to hyperventilate.

"Impossible. Tell me the truth."

For a moment Gina did not say anything, just studied his expression. This level of irrational aggression was like nothing she had ever encountered in any of the other Agents. Perhaps re-instating Agent Smith might not have been such a good idea. It had been hard enough to help the other Agents adjust to working with and accepting the emotional responses they had all eventually developed. And they had had the benefit of growing into them.

Smith on the other hand was clearly overcome by his emotions. He seemed so very human- but with all the powers of an Agent. That was a truly frightening combination. Gina had to remind herself that despite his emotional response, deep down he was still a program.

"Agent Smith, do you really think this is the rational way to have a conversation?"

Gina saw from the way Smith's mouth curled and twitched that he was fighting with himself. This time, fortunately, reason prevailed. His face became relaxed, and the gun was removed from her. She exhaled relieved as the Desert Eagle was holstered, and realised that she had begun perspiring rather strongly. Even her palms were soaked in sweat.

"I can assure you, except for a small margin of error due to my imperfect human nature, everything I told you was the truth." Gina took a deep breath. "A lot has changed and you probably won't like any of it. But I can't do anything to help that."

She could tell that he was studying her intently. Eventually, he backed up, which gave her more room to breathe. Finally, it was as if he'd never been agitated to the point of pulling his gun. Gina nonetheless didn't feel safe. She thought she might not ever feel safe around him. Still, she thought about a better way to bring Smith up to date. If she hadn't let her emotions get the better of her, she might have been able to avoid this dreadful scene.

Despite all this, she figured it was probably a good thing to have seen the true face of Agent Smith, not just those sunglasses and fancy suit. She found it impossible to believe that he was ever going to work well with any BTUs. That wouldn't be her problem right now. Right now, she needed to play it more carefully.

"You might prefer if Agent Brown or Jones updated you on the basic facts."

Pretending to adjust the way his jacket fell, he turned and gave her a sideways look.

"But the architect left that task to you."

Gina shrugged. "If I recall correctly, he said he would leave the specifics to me. That does not necessarily mean I have to be the one to tell you, does it?"

"No, but I can’t see why the Architect has such a low opinion of you, considering you deliberately subvert the intention of his orders."

Leaning back against the wall, Gina shrugged again.

"The real question is why does he want me to tell you. I think he knew that we would rile each other up. After all, he doesn't like our approach, the way we correct anomalies by using our human instincts to repair them. Since he is a control freak."

Smith looked around the room, as if he thought the Architect might be watching. "You do not think highly of him – either?"

"Correct - I do not like the Architect. We are like Order and Chaos, and I am the most chaotic of all the BTUs. So the dislike is mutual."

Smith turned to look at her. "I don't like you either."

Gina took a deep breath. That statement should have neither surprised nor affect her. Yet, it had stung her a bit. For the most part she tried not to show it, and she managed to look calmly back at Agent Smith. "Well, it's not a job requirement."


	2. Back in the game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agent Smith and Gina Larson head to the office where Smith meets two more of his human colleagues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to LauralHill for beta-reading this chapter ;)

As Gina was signing out her belonging and her gun at the lobby desk, she wondered why she wasn’t allowed inside with one. Especially when a much less stable individual like Agent Smith was walking in and out with a Desert Eagle, while her side-arm wasn't even a semi-automatic. An irrational thought, of course it was more likely that it had something do with the agents being literally created with a side arm in their perfectly tailored suits.

Often enough she had lain in bed, watching the way that Agent Johnson simply re-calibrated his programming to be instantly perfect again. She envied him so much for that ability. If it had been up to Annabel Parrino, all BTUs would have not only been able to do that but also been able to choose any clothing that suited them. She had argued that since they had done it when they were hacking into ports from the ships, why not let them continue to do so now as BTUs?  

But the architect had insisted on them being as grounded in the basic rules as all the plugged in humans. Even if that meant they were less efficient due needing to eat, drink and sleep. Gina didn’t really mind being human; while it would have been nice to have a wide array of special powers, she was happy with what she had. In a way, not ageing was the only thing that really mattered.

"I am going to drive." 

Smith made the statement the moment they stepped out of the elevator into the parking garage. Gina simply pressed the button on the key so the car flashed its lights before opening. Then she threw the key towards the Agent, who caught it with ease.

Only a few minutes later, the car was leaving the garage. She was sitting in the passenger seat, being as quiet as possible. Smith was expressionless as he took the wheel. He was convincing as an emotionless AI, but Gina knew he was the exact opposite. If she were to say the wrong thing all that anger would blow up - and that might lead to him blowing her brains out. 

Halfway to the office, Agent Smith finally addressed her.

“So, Agents Brown and Jones are already re-instated?”

“In a manner of speaking. They were assigned outside the Matrix, at least for a while. After the One was born, or realized, or whatever you might call it, a new team of Agents was sent out. But after the crisis was resolved, more agents were needed and thus Jones and Brown were re-assigned here.”

Gina was carefully avoiding the fact that the crisis had in fact been Virus Smith overtaking the Matrix. She felt that this was not the answer he had been interested in. If it had been her getting smashed to bits, quite literally so, she would want to know how her colleagues re-acted to the situation.

“So they were not also destroyed ...?” Smith grumbled.

Expecting this line of question, she sighed and wondered how to best put it.

“They saw what happened to you and fled”, lowering her voice near the end, she paused and gathered herself.

Smith gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. She felt his left turn was much sharper than necessary. 

“It was the first time they experienced emotions.”

Stopping at a red traffic light, Smith used the opportunity to turn and stare at her.

“Fear is a powerful emotion, and they simply panicked.”

“I'd say it’s more realistic that they analysed the situation and saw that retreat was the most sensible action. They told me –in hindsight – that what they felt was fear. And it is quite the natural re-action given the situation.”

“They told you?” Smith scoffed.

Gina shrugged, feeling suddenly hurt. “Well, that is my job around here. I help AIs – specifically the Agents - deal with their emotions.”

The light changed and Smith accelerated. “Of course. So what do we do, meet once a week and talk about how we feel?”

With her cheeks turning red, Gina listened as the Agent continued to mock the only thing she really excelled at. After finally having finished expressing his disapproval of the whole concept of AIs pretending to have emotions and learning to handle them, he pulled onto the parking lot of the office building the Agents and BTUs used as their point of operation.

“No, all Agents approach me as needed –“ Gina stopped.

She wanted to add that she was all too glad to hear that he wouldn't be needing her counsel. But for one, he might take offence, and secondly, she didn’t want to have to give him much-needed anger management. She also couldn’t find her voice for a moment, and knew speaking would surely show too many of her emotions. Other Agents were different; she did not want to show any signs of weakness in front of Smith.

The very second he had parked the car, she got out. Her eyes felt slightly puffy and the hot summer air wasn’t making her feel any better. At least she had an excuse to put on her flashy red sunglasses. It did not even matter that Smith stared at her as if he wanted to vaporize her.

“Well, where exactly are our offices?” he finally asked her.

It had slipped her mind that she had given him the address of the building but nothing else. Scratching her arm nervously, she headed for the main entrance.

“We are on the thirteenth floor – we use key cards either on the elevator or the staircase locks.”

“I do not have a key card!” he reminded her, still seeming angry.

Biting her lip, Gina fumbled around in handbag, searching for her purse while they approached the revolving glass doors. 

“The agents do not need them as you can direct transfer the relevant code.” She couldn’t stop biting her lip as she added, “It is not my fault the Architect did not give you full access or the code.”

Ignoring her, Smith walked through the door. He pushed so forcefully against it that she decided to wait till he had passed through, and then walked out into the lobby.

Smith was walking towards the elevator. The porter eyed him but didn’t address him at all.

“That your new Agent?” he asked Gina instead.

“Oh yeah, that's him.”

As she reached the elevator, Smith was already standing inside the cabin. Even though it was too dark to see his eyes underneath the tinted glasses, she was sure he was giving her his death glare again. She wondered if she was getting used to it as it bothered her less indoors than outside in the parking lot. Gina swiped her card, the elevator started moving, and she put it away.

One more uncomfortable ride later, the doors opened and much more friendly faces appeared. Opposite the elevators, Shiv and Pecker stood by the coffee and snack machines. She never would have imagined Shiv or Pecker as more friendly, but when the competition was as scary as Agent Smith…

Shiv was, with the exception of Gina herself, probably the least talented programmer of the BTUs. But he did consider himself to be hard-ass. He felt that Zion had been his prison. So he started acting like a two-bit gangster who had been locked away for something he did not do for a change. Shiv had the tattoos to prove it. Admittedly, he was occasionally kind of hard core. But the faked attitude made him seem silly when he was not. It was true that he had fought and been injured in the big fight around Zion after taking out several drones. But it just did not help that he showed the visual reminders of them at the most unfortunate moments and was all “baby come and marvel at my awesome battle scar.”

And of course, only Shiv would have the audacity to yawn as Smith snarled at his ragged, tattooed appearance. 

Pecker on the other hand was wearing a nice black suit with a light blue tie - going for the yuppie look. Despite being the youngest in their circle, he was one of the most brilliant programmers of the lot. He could hack into any given program. Which was the real reason for his nick name – although if one was to ask any of the female BTUs it was because he thought with his dick as soon as a woman entered the room.

He always managed to say the dumbest things in the misguided attempt to be sexy. And she was not the exception to that rule.

”Heh, Gina, babe, I must admit this Agent looks especially good on you.”

Smith stopped dead in his tracks. It was obvious that he was about to reach for his gun.

“Oh Pecker - shut the fuck up”, she snapped.

“It is amazing the Matrix is still operative considering it is in the hands of such degenerate monkeys.”

The Agent spoke with a calm and steady voice. She was reminded of an alligator lying calmly about and then suddenly snapping at an unsuspecting victim coming to close. Which was then exactly what Shiv did.

“Whom you are calling a monkey, you ass-clown?”

Smith sneered back. “Pardon me, monkeys know better than to get into the face of much more dangerous predator.”

Undoing his cuff-links with an almost casual elegance Smith approached till he was inches away from Shiv's face.

“More like a guard dog on a leash”, the BTU grinned. “See, you forget, you guys are programmed to protect and assist us.”

Gina's mind raced to figure a way out of this dreadful scene, for Smith pulling a gun on her could only mean these safety measures implanted in the other agents were no longer in Smith. 

The Agent whipped out his gun and clocked Shiv’s chin so hard that he hit the coffee maker and then the ground.  
Everyone stood there frozen, with the exception of Shiv, who was doubled over on the floor. Pecker held his half-empty coffee cup like it was going to explode while staring wide eyed at the agent. Gina merely took the whole scene in. 

It was not just the force behind the blow that astonished everyone - it was how fast the attack happened. Nobody really saw it coming. By the time Shiv was lying groaning on the floor, Smith had already put his gun away and re-adjusted his cuff-links. Only 40 seconds passed when the trance was broken by one of the doors opening.

It was Agent Brown. “What is going on here?”

It felt good to see a sane Agent, especially one that was as cute as Brown could be when he was confused. He seemed to immediately reach the conclusion that only Smith could have been responsible, but this contradicted his information that Agents were programmed unable to harm the BTUs.

Smith stared back at Agent Brown and somehow he seemed more relaxed.

“Agent Brown. Nothing of importance, Shiv just failed to establish himself as the alpha male in the room.”

Pecker snickered for a moment then stopped as both Agents were looking at him, fortunately stopping Smith from turning around fully to face Gina.

“Pecker, why don't you take care of Shiv. See if they have some ice for his cheek in the cafeteria. Unless he broke something – just take care of it.”

The young man nodded and helped his dazed but apparently not broken colleague to his feet. With the two male BTUs taken care of, Smith finally turned to her.

“I begin to see why you told the Architect that more Agents were needed. But I am nobody's baby-sitter,” he almost spat at her.

Gina inhaled then exhaled deeply. She tried to focus on the fact that she would soon park Smith with Brown and Jones, and that she then could ask Johnson for his advice. It was almost funny considering how jealous he had reacted when he first had heard about the re-instatement. But now Gina was never happier to go to dinner with Agent Johnson.


End file.
